Happy Hour : Tossing Pillows

Every been in a restaurant when it turns "Happy Hour?" You notice the mood instantly changes as everyone is ready for fun. Whenever I'm having a Bad Hair Day, my cure is always a personal Happy Hour. Of course, I'm hopeless addicted to interiors; so for me, this hour is all about decorating. In this series, we'll look at some quick and happy mood changers for our very own Happy Hour. Each should take about an hour - a mere 60 minutes - to perk up our minds and our rooms. Let's get the party started.

For this Happy Hour, why not update your pillows? My quickest decorating trick is to change out the pillow covers in our rooms. And I change often : spring (yellow or blue), summer (blue&white), fall (cinnamon), Christmas (red or green) and winter (moss greens). Before coming to my senses, I had quite a collection of pillows stuffed in the basement, all waiting their turn. Then it dawned on me, if I used the same size refills with multiple pillow covers, storage wouldn't be an issue. Let's check out my trick.

First, you'll need the correct size inserts. I use duck feather inserts from IKEA. I have 4 pillows on my sofa (two 20x20 & two 24x24), and a rectangle pillow (16x26) on each of 3 chairs. IKEA has 3 sizes of inserts - 16x26, 20x20 and 24x24. The 20x20, for example, is $6.00. They also come in polyester but if you cram two feather inserts into your pillow cover, you'll have good support and a very full, natural pillow. Once you have two inserts for each pillow, you are set for life. All you need are pillow covers that you can change whenever the mood strikes.

For fall, Christmas and winter, I love velvet pillows. My favorite is on Amazon - "King Rose Solid Velvet Decorative Throw Pillowcase" which has grey piping. A 20x 20 is $12.49 each.

Experiment with colors. This color made my eyes water and not in a good way, so this were returned to Amazon.

For Christmas, red plush velvet from Amazon. A two-pack sells for less than twenty dollars.

For winter, mossy green velvet covers. The chair has an IKEA velvet cover ($12) which isn't as luxe as those on Amazon, but I love the dark color. When searching on IKEA's website, just remember they are called "cushion covers" (just like in the UK).

Another option for fall and winter are these plush zebra covers I sewed up.

This spring, I'm quite taken with this pillow cover in navy, 20x20 for $20 (Amazon). I guess it cost a little more as the linen is from France. Oh là là.

I bought two different navy covers from Amazon. I kept the solid one as the fringe one was shedding all over.

I'd made some pillow covers with trims and some with invisible zippers (thank you, YouTube, for reminding me how to sew one in).

Here's an assortment of blue&white pillow covers I've made, all from 100% cotton shower curtains (Target).

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My friend, Jayne, gave me a pair of these beauties. I think they'll look amazing with leafy green pillows in my study for this summer. As you can see, I'm maybe a little too into pillows but I love the idea of a zillion colorful covers folded into one plastic bin stored in the basement. When I'm ready to change the mood of a room, it's as simple as stuffing an insert into a cover and zipping it up. Easy Peasy! Hope you'll find some inspiration here and enjoy your Happy Hour!

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photos : from my house unless noted.